Nonprofits
Nonprofits' $4.5M leaves city short Source * Jeremy Boren, Tribune-Review, October 12, 2005 Nonprofit groups have pledged $4.5 million to the city's 2005 budget -- $500,000 below expectations The figure released by Doug Shields, chairman of City Council's Finance Committee, is $1.5 million below the $6 million that Mayor Tom Murphy initially had counted on from nonprofits. That number later was reduced to $5 million. The shortfall further erodes a projected $9.8 million surplus in the city's 2005 budget of $417.5 million. Council members expected to have a list of contributors to the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund by yesterday so that they could discuss it today. That discussion will be delayed until the nonprofits provide the list. Neither the Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the fund, nor James H. Roberts, a member of the Act 47 recovery team overseeing Pittsburgh's 5-year financial recovery plan, would confirm how much the nonprofits will contribute. Lengwin refused to release details before City Council has reviewed the list of contributions. He said the nonprofits did not use a uniform formula to decide how much to give. "Each decided how much to give individually and confidentially," Lengwin said. "Remember, this all hinges on it being a voluntary gift. The city is in trouble, and we wanted to help." Lengwin did identify the major contributors -- the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; the University of Pittsburgh; Duquesne University; and Carnegie Mellon University. UPMC -- the region's largest nonprofit -- gave the city $23 million in payments in lieu of taxes between 1988 and 2001. It stopped making such payments because no other charity was doing so. But as the city's finances tottered, UPMC decided to join the fund. "We think it's important to help our city as we have in the past, even though we are not legally obliged to do so. And we believe that every organization should be involved in this endeavor," said UPMC spokeswoman Jane Duffield. Arts groups also have chipped in. "The nonprofit community, especially the arts, knows when there's a crisis, we have to pull together," said Mark Weinstein, chairman of the board of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and general director of the Pittsburgh Opera. "We're as much a part of citizenry as everybody else." The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust gave to the fund, in addition to the $3 million it pays the city in amusement, parking and real estate taxes, said spokesman Marc Fleming. The trust pays real estate taxes on its commercial property, such as a Downtown parking garage. "With this pledge, we're contributing perhaps more than our fair share," Fleming said. The Richard King Mellon Foundation and the River City Brass Band are among the nonprofits that have not yet decided whether to join the fund. "We've been very involved with trying to take care of some things the city apparently doesn't have the money to deal with," said Michael Watson, senior vice president of the Mellon Foundation. He said his group has helped pay for a traffic-light study of the Downtown; construction of North Shore Park; and renovations of Mellon Park -- even though the group does not own any property for which the city has to provide services. Watson, though, said he worries that if the foundation starts giving money to the city, it could end up paying for years to come. "Once you start a fund like that, the question in my mind is whether it will ever end," Watson said. Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7987. category:news coverage